Mixed Emotions: Nokia 7210 Supernova

I’ve been using my Nokia 7210 Supernova for over three months now. Here’s a quick review of how the phone has fared thus far.

I bought it mainly because I wanted a simple and cheap camera-phone that I could use on my solo road trip from Manila back to Cebu (the trip was called “Ride 4 Life“). I was attracted by its 2-megapixel camera and low cost (at around P6000) and its large phone directory (around 1000 contacts, at least). The main screen was large and bright and the case was slim and light. Clinching the sale was its expandable storage via a micro-SD slot. I left the store with an additional 2GB micro-SD card.

I left Manila after a day or two and eagerly put the camera to work. During the first day of my trip (which ended in Gumaca, Quezon), I took photos of several old churches and got acquainjted with the capabilities and limitations of the camera. I found that it took decent and fairly sharp pictures in good light, but under poor lighting conditions the shots were “noisy” and often blurred (I guess it was compensating with a “longer” exposure). The digital zoom was practically worthless too since it resulted in blurred, unfocused pictures. This built-in digital camera is strictly for daytime outdoor use, or for brightly-lit indoor venues. Forget about using it at night. It does not have a flash unit. It does video too, but I haven’t made much use of that feature yet.

You can check out some photos taken with this camera at my Multiply site.

How does it fare as a phone? Good enough. The large phone directory is versatile, allowing multiple numbers per contact as well as other information. I’ve already transferred several hundred contacts from my SIM card (there’s a simple utility for doing that too) and I’m only using 20% of its capacity. I did notice, however, that sending a contact to someone else (as a “business card”) involves digging through the menus. Adding a number to an existing contact also requires similar effort. Overall, I found that the menus could be made more intuitive and simpler.

Connectivity is pretty good too, with Bluetooth, packet data, and Micro USB 2.0 support. It comes with PC Suite software. The included applications allow you to upload pictures to Flickr or connect to Yahoo!

One of the 7210’s pleasant surprises is the sound quality of its speakers. When placed close enough (about 6 inches away), I could hear even the lower frequencies of my stored music. The phone has a music player for MP3 and WAV files, and FM radio with a programmable autotuner. The supplied earphones act as the unit’s radio antenna and comes with a small channel switch button. Alas, the headphones themselves aren’t very good, and the ill-fitting earpieces can cause some pain after a while. I later purchased an adapter so I could use more comfortable earphones. After doing so, I found the sound to be quite good, considering the cheap equipment I was using, and got booming bass and clear-enough highs. I had to give up the convenience of the radio channel switch button, but the comfort was worth it. The music player comes with a stereo widening feature and configurable equalizer which I put to good use.

If there is one major complaint I have with the 7210, it’s with the keypad. Not only are the keys too small, they do not have enough tactile feedback so errors are frequent. Worse, the placement of certain keys is terrible. The call-cancel key (with the little red phone symbol) also acts as a function-cancel, and it’s placed right where you can accidentally press it. I have had many a text message sent to the “draft” folder, as well as many canceled operations, because of it. Nokia would do good to move the blasted thing someplace else. The layout plain sucks!

Take note that this phone uses a micro-USB port, and a USB cable is not supplied. You will have to buy one (aroundP250). You should also be wary of the stores that try to sell you the micro-SD cards. I bought my 2GB card at the same outlet where I purchased the phone. The charged my over P1000 for it. Less than five meters away, there was a store selling the exact same thing (as in same brand even) for just P500. Don’t forget to buy better earphones and an adapter.

This phone’s many features make it worth its price, as long as you can get over the lousy keypad. It’s not the best experience, but I am mostly satisfied. If, however, you can get a phone with better keys and menus, along with the same features, go for it instead.